Bacteria from the hand of a surgeon or other operating room personnel can be the source of serious infections in surgery patients. While transfer of bacteria is substantially reduced by routine surgical scrubbing procedures, it is prudent to take additional steps to eliminate bacteria and other microorganisms that may grow under surgical gloves. If left unchecked, these organisms could escape through an all too common puncture to the glove and infect the patient. To this end, a germicidal solution is often coated onto the hands before slipping on surgical gloves. Optimally, the coating remains on the skin surface of the hands during a surgical operation to inhibit bacterial growth of bacteria. However, current germicidal solutions cause significant drying of the skin, and do not provide a coating which allows for easy donning or removal of surgical gloves.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a composition which is an effective germicide with a high level of moisturizing activity on the skin of the user. Another object is to provide an effective germicidal composition which may be coated onto skin to provide an antiseptic film which will allow for ready placement and removal of gloves over the skin.